Bounce
by Lady Scarring
Summary: AU Part of being a teenager is having to put up with the masks that people wear, but no one was prepared for the mask one student wore. And even more so for the real person underneath. Roommates, parties, sports rivalries and term papers. DISCONTINUED
1. Admissions and Phone Numbers

I know I haven't updated anything in a really, really long time, but don't bug me about it. I haven't had inspiration for over a year and I just got back into it when I rifled through my closet and found boxes of papers and notes for stories like this. Lots of revamping of characters here. You won't recognize a lot of them. And the canon characters might seem out of character to you but I'm banking on the fact that this is an alternate universe thing, so no beyblades, and they're also going to college so most of them will have matured. At least a little. I think. Maybe not. I'm taking creative license on this.

This was interesting writing while listening to the "Avenue Q" soundtrack... If you haven't heard the music for the play, download it. It's the funniest thing I've ever heard. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

**Note: All spelling and grammar problems have been fixed. Haha, my bad. All set now.

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_**Bounce**_

_Summary: Part of being a teenager is having to put up with the masks that people wear, but no one was prepared for the mask one student wore. And even more so for the real person underneath. Roommates, parties, sports rivalries and term papers._

_Disclaimer: Beyblade and all associated characters and themes are copyright to Aoki Takao. Riley Kurosawa (formerly known as Riley Taylor) and this story are copyright to me.

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__**1. Admissions and Phone Numbers**_

Nicolai Hiwatari handed the letter from Bakuten University to his son the moment he entered the kitchen. The younger Hiwatari tore open the envelope as his father looked on from his place at the table. Crimson eyes scanned over its contents and Kai wordlessly handed it back to his father to read so he could go off and fix himself a late breakfast. Summer vacation made everyone lazy, even the normally early rising bluenette. Then again, in the middle of summer vacation after high school graduation, teenagers tended to be even lazier than usual.

"Are you okay with this?" Nicolai asked, indicating the letter. "I know it's what you asked for, but it's rare for a freshman to have a single room."

Kai shrugged, popping two Pop-Tarts into the toaster. He had known that even at a university like Bakuten where it was a largely local student populous, it would be likely that he didn't know who his roommate was and because of his reclusive personality, he might run into problems, but he found he didn't really care.

"Never heard of the surname," his father continued thoughtfully, cradling his coffee in his hands. "Might be someone other than the usual local stock."

"So long as they don't expect me to be their best friend, I really don't care." Kai yawned and pulled a plate from the cupboard, setting it in front of the toaster before he went in search of orange juice. However, when he had his cup in hand, he changed his mind and pulled out the milk instead.

Amused, and not at all surprised with his son's attitude, Nicolai picked up the letter again and read aloud. "George Hall, room 231. Phone extension 7496. Double. Roommate Riley Kurosawa 389-3957. You going to call him?"

Kai shrugged again, leaning against the counter as he waited for his Pop-Tarts. "I guess."

"Might as well. It'd be irritating for you both to bring miniature refrigerators when you only need the one." Nicolai put the letter down again and pushed it in his son's direction, indicating that he should call the number on the paper.

Instead of answering, Kai rolled his eyes and dropped his Pop-Tarts onto his plate, heading back to his room where he could listen to his music at full blast, only half listening when his father called after him, "I'll be working late again tonight, Kai. You're on your own for dinner."

* * *

"So your roomie's some Japanese kid?" Tala Volkov asked from his place on the beanbag chair in Kai's room. The bluenette was lying on his stomach on the floor, torso propped up with a body pillow. Car and sports magazines littered the floor, although Kai's attention was divided between his best friend and the recorded basketball game on television.

Kai grunted in response and stretched out an arm to adjust the fan that had fallen over onto the floor from its place on the bed. His fingers pushed it just enough to turn it back onto him, covering his body in a cool blast of air. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the game. "Who'd you get?"

"The Gnome."

Kai shifted his gaze to catch the look of annoyance on Tala's face and he smirked. The Gnome, formally known as Ian Kushnev, was a short and stocky Russian that they had both gone to high school with and tolerated, but wouldn't consider him one of their actual friends. He was all right, just irritating with the way he constantly tried to prove himself as just a good an athlete as the taller boys despite his diminutive size. Tala in particular enjoyed putting him in his place, so the first year of uni would be interesting with those two as roommates. "At least you don't have to worry about fighting over space."

The redhead grinned and nudged the other teen with his foot. "Yeah, well I don't have to call and see who the fuck he is, either." Kai swatted his foot away and flipped him the bird, too hot to do much else. "Kurosawa, huh... Y'think he and the Gnome might become friends?" Kai shot him a questioning glance although it wasn't needed because Tala continued anyway without having looked at him. "The Japanese are all kinda short and the Gnome's always going on about being all alone in a world of tall people."

Kai grunted. "Don't give him any ideas. One Gnome is enough."

"McGregor's rooming with Enrique."

There was a long pause before Kai propped his torso up on his elbows and turned his complete attention to Tala. "Enrique."

Tala grinned wolfishly. "Yup."

Kai snorted and then began to laugh. "This year might be worth it after all."

"I'm putting on bets on a fight the first day." Tala pulled out a small notebook from a pocket in his shorts and waved it as proof. "Got twenty bucks a pop saying Johnny blows it first."

Kai snatched the list and saw the large number of names and amounts of money given for each side. A surprising amount was betting on Enrique losing it first. "You talked to roommates, didn't you. Enrique isn't going to lose it before McGregor."

"Which is why I'm raking in the money," Tala replied, snatching the notebook back and waving a pen in Kai's face. "Wanna place a bet too?"

"The RA."

The redhead blinked and stared at his best friend a moment before he burst out laughing. "I think I'm going to switch my bet, you're a genius!"

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... Yup. Review! 


	2. Call Me

Such a warm welcome back! Thank you so much, guys, that really meant a lot to me.

I blundered a bit in thinking everyone knew what an RA was. Sorry about that! RA is an acronym for resident assistant (I think). Basically an RA is a student (never a freshman) who lives in a dorm hall (as in an actual hallway, different hallways have different RAs usually) and they are the basic watchers over the students living there. They enforce the quiet rules (or are supposed to), and if a student in their block is having trouble, a lot of times the RA is the first person they would go to, they also organize group activities. That's what it _technically_ means, anyway. They have other duties, I just can't remember what they are at the moment.

And yes, girls aren't supposed to dorm with guys. That's pretty much against the rules (you CAN have a guest of the opposite sex, but that's a whole other story altogether). There are a few co-ed dorm halls so you have guys on one end of the hallway and girls on the other, or every other room is a guys' room with girls in between. It all depends. If there's anything else that confuses you, policies or otherwise, feel free to ask.

Ugh, I just went over the other chapter and found a ton of mistakes. Sorry about that! And Riley's phone number was completely made up, so don't call it. Oh! And the last name Wang, in Chinese, is pronounced Wong. Just thought you should know.

Other than that... Enjoy!

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_**Bounce**_

_Summary: Part of being a teenager is having to put up with the masks that people wear, but no one was prepared for the mask one student wore. And even more so for the real person underneath. Roommates, parties, sports rivalries and term papers._

_Disclaimer: Beyblade and all associated characters and themes are copyright to Aoki Takao. Riley Kurosawa (formerly known as Riley Taylor) and this story are copyright to me._

_**

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2. Call Me **_

Miriam Tsaiba crossed her legs and rested her chin in her hand, watching as more students filed into the small cafe strategically located between the two colleges of Bakuten. The University, an all boys' school, with its sports buffs and the few actual academics, and the Academy, the all girls' school, full of arts and music. No one knew why the schools remained separate, but the students didn't seem to mind. How could they? It wasn't like they were actually separated. It was easy to sneak onto one campus or the other for a midnight rendezvous or party.

Now, with only a few weeks left before the beginning of the semester, roommates were meeting at this exact location to discuss appliances, interests, and even to exchange AIM or MSN addresses. The locals collapsed into the plush seats without a care, completely comfortable on their home turf while those from out of state or the even rarer out of country sat with more apprehension and anxiety.

Modernized as today's society was, there was a surprising amount of teenagers taking down numbers and addresses with pen and paper instead of a cell phone or PDA. This amused Miriam a great deal as it seemed to shock the more wealthy roommates. How funny it was to see how the well off thought of those less fortunate. In this day and age, who _didn't_ have at least a cell phone?

"Hello."

Miriam looked up to see her freshman year roommate standing before her, one hand on her hip and the other holding the strap of her purse on her shoulder. Mariah Wang. It had been almost funny when Miriam had found out that the pink haired girl would be her roommate. All throughout high school, while they had not outright hated one another or been cruel, they certainly disliked each other. There was never open animosity or any sign that they couldn't stand the sight of the other, but instead an unspoken agreement to stay out of the other's way. They both despised petty cat fights, although Mariah was more prone to them than Miriam as it were. Being roommates would be... _interesting_, to say the least.

"Hello," Miriam replied with the same amount of disinterest as Mariah slid into the seat opposite her.

As it appeared to Mariah that Miriam would not be the one to speak first, she took charge. Which was just fine with Miriam, really. "Big appliances first. Television and DVD player, mini fridge, radio, phone. I have the TV and DVD player and radio already."

"Who uses the radio anymore?" Miriam asked lazily. "My laptop has speakers. And like we need a phone, we both use cell phones."

Although she was annoyed with the dark-haired girl's reply, Mariah fought not to show it. "Could you bring the mini fridge, then?"

"I suppose I could get one." Miriam examined her nails, absently flicking off a loose flake of polish and making a mental note to paint them again. "Any food I buy is mine. I won't touch yours."

"Fair." Mariah opened her purse and took out her PDA, tapping several notes into it before she left it alone again. She looked up to see Miriam gazing off in unconcealed boredom at the other students and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Miriam obviously wasn't going to take charge of this conversation. "Do you plan on decorating the room? Posters, curtains, throw rugs?"

"A few. I'll stick to my half."

"So I guess I'll bring a phone, then."

This time Miriam did roll her eyes, but other than that, she did not argue. She did, however, launch into a list of rules. "When I bring my boyfriend, you leave the room. If we want to spend the night, the other person leaves. Keep your side of the room clean and don't throw your things on my side. I'm a light sleeper so keep it down."

Mariah lifted her hand to make sure an angry tick hadn't developed on her temple. It hadn't, although she was still livid. "Rules for the both of us, then." Miriam's eyes narrowed slightly and Mariah smiled sweetly in return, standing and walking away. She had a feeling that the majority of her time would be spent away from her dorm until she could switch roommates.

* * *

"So where are you from, anyway?" Rei Kon asked his future roommate, Mystel Dakarai. They had already gone over the basics of who would bring what and personal preferences on television and music. Rei was relieved to find that Mystel was as easy-going as he was and also had a great taste in music. 

The blond stretched from his place on the grass. "Cairo, Egypt, but I haven't been there in a few years." He turned his head and grinned. "I'm gonna hazard a guess and say that you're from China originally."

Rei laughed. "Sort of. I was born in Beijing but I don't remember anything because we moved when I was two. I have a lot of cousins in China, though."

"Cool. International roomies." Mystel laughed – something he seemed to do a lot of – and folded his arms behind his head, pale blue eyes gazing up at the sky. "You have any friends going here?"

"Yeah. I'm from Bakuten so I sort of always knew I'd go here. A lot of my classmates from high school are going here, too. So I'll know a few people. I think you guys would get along fine." Rei grinned, sitting up as he saw a certain pink-haired girl moving toward them. "The guys are pretty cool, it's the girls you gotta look out for."

"I think I should take offense to that," Mariah retorted, playfully batting her boyfriend upside the head. "So you're Mystel…Dakaro?" she asked, turning to the blond nearby.

"Dakarai," he corrected, smiling. "And yeah, that would be me. Mariah Wang, I presume? Lovely to meet you." He took her proffered hand and lifted it so lightly kiss her knuckles.

Rei, who had more or less been expecting this given their discussion earlier on relationships, fought back a grin when Mariah gave the foreign boy a startled look and blushed prettily. "Rei, I think your roommate is more of a gentleman than you are."

Mystel ran his fingers through his messy blond bangs and winked at Rei. "Careful, Rei, I just might try to steal her."

"I call seniority," Rei teased, wrapping an arm around Mariah's waist and pulling her down to sit beside him. Out of habit, she settled back to lean against his chest and sighed contentedly. "And she likes me better."

Mariah laughed and poked her boyfriend when he stuck his tongue out at his roommate. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here," she scolded, although all three of them knew that she was enjoying the attention.

"So how was it meeting with your roommate?" Rei asked gently, sensing from her tense shoulders that it had gone about as well as she had predicted.

"Horrible." The pink-haired girl sighed heavily, entwining her fingers in Rei's, only vaguely noticing that Mystel was listening with interest, too. "Of all the people for me to room with, it had to be her. It was okay in high school 'cause we could just walk past each other and didn't even have to say hello, but now… Now we're _living_ in the same _room_. I don't think I'm going to spend any time there if that's where she's going to be."

"She might be thinking the same thing," Rei said thoughtfully, taking encouragement from the nod Mystel had given him. "You might not even see each other very much."

"I hope not, I can't stand her."

Rei sighed and rested his chin on the crown of her head, looking over to see Mystel shoot him a sympathetic glance. Not every guy had to deal with his current girlfriend living with his ex.

* * *

"Kai! Phone!" 

Kai grunted and rolled off the bed, padding down the stairs only to have his father toss the cordless phone at him the moment he was within range. Without having to ask, his father shrugged and said, "I think it's your roommate."

"Hello?"

"Kai, right?" the voice on the other line asked. For a moment Kai pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. This guy couldn't have been older than fifteen, maybe sixteen but that was stretching it.

"Yeah. You Riley?"

"That'd be me."

There was a long silence as Kai made his way back to his room and collapsed in his beanbag chair. He could occasionally hear Riley moving about, wherever he was, but he couldn't discern as to what he was doing.

"Well, this is awkward," Riley said finally. "I'll just start asking random questions. Whether you answer or not is up to you."

"Sounds good." Kai relaxed in his chair, somewhat amused with this person he had never met before.

"Do you watch TV?"

"Only for games."

"Games? Like basketball and hockey? 'Cause if it's football I can't speak to you."

Kai's mouth quirked into a tiny smile. "Basketball, mostly. What about you?"

"I can't sit still long enough for TV," he admitted. "But if it's a good basketball game, I'll watch some of it."

"I can bring my TV," Kai offered, looking at the one in his room. "It's not that big."

"Good, 'cause I don't have one. I have a mini fridge though." Riley was quiet a moment before he continued. "I'm willing to share so long as you don't eat everything I put in it. Fair?"

"Fair."

"Umm… Music. Do you have a favorite kind, not like it at all, or listen to everything?"

"Rock, some punk if it hasn't gone mainstream, and metal."

"No arguments there." Kai thought he heard relief in Riley's voice. "Are you on the basketball team?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Naw, I just shoot hoops for fun sometimes. At midnight, usually."

Kai sat up and rested his elbows on his knees, amused. This guy was quirky, that was for sure, but he didn't seem all that bad. "Insomniac?"

"Something like that."

"You board?"

"All the time." He could hear the grin through Riley's voice. "I'm either outside shooting hoops or boarding. Any good places for both around here?"

"Informal hoops just off campus and the paths all around campus and the city are paved. Everyone skates on them. Then there's the park."

"Awesome, I was worried they'd have those stupid laws against it like they did back home."

Curious, Kai asked, "Where you from?"

"Odaiba, Japan. I just got here a few weeks ago."

Kai had known that the guy was Japanese, but to have been born and raised there and have hardly a trace of an accent… He had been under the impression that while English was taught in Japan, the majority of its citizens didn't learn much than they absolutely had to and even then it was rocky at best. But this guy's English was flawless. "Why didn't you go to school in Japan?"

"I have my reasons," Riley replied, but something in his tone hinted that if asked again, he wouldn't answer. "Bakuten born and raised?"

"Pretty much." Kai yawned. He and Tala had been up the night before until five in the morning going over the basketball game play by play. As fun as it was, when he had been told to get out of bed at nine to mow the lawn, he was still tired.

"I think we have bunk beds in the room they gave us. Do you care which one you get?"

"Mm, not really. You?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd let me take the top…"

"Go ahead."

Again, Kai could hear the grin in his voice when Riley said, "Sweet. So… Oh, when's your earliest class?"

Kai groaned. "I have an eight o'clock on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But Tuesday and Thursday I start at ten-thirty."

"Sucks to be you, man," Riley teased, sounding absolutely delighted. "My earliest is ten-thirty on Tuesday and Thursday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I start at eleven-thirty."

"What's your Tuesday-Thursday class?"

"Umm… That Freshman Seminar thing. You?"

"Same. I heard it was useless."

"I think they do it to make the transition from high school to college easier or something. Make friends, group activities, that kinda thing. Sounds lame," Riley admitted. "Guess I'll see you the twenty-third, right?"

Kai knew a good-bye when he heard one, although it surprised him to realize that he had rather liked talking to Riley. The guy was a little weird, but he was easy to talk to. "Yeah. So we'll just meet when we move in?"

"Yeah, probably. I'll have most of my stuff in the room by the time you get there, I think, so… Just look for a guy with a skateboard." Riley laughed. "You'll know me when you see me."

"That recognizable?"

Riley was grinning again, although this time his tone was wry. "Something like that. See ya in two weeks then."

"See ya."

There was a click and the line went dead and Kai stared at the phone for a moment before shaking his head and trotting down the stairs to put it back, giving his father a shrug in response to his questioning glance.

"Well?" Nicolai asked finally.

"He seems okay." Kai snagged an apple from the bowl near the fridge and slipped on his sneakers, waving to his father as he headed out the door. "I'm going to Tala's. See you later, dad."

* * *

Riley's gone through a lot of changes, as you can see. But I like this version of her much better. And I promised a much longer chapter and you got it. Twice as long as the first one. I'm rather proud of myself. 

Review!


	3. MoveIn Chaos

Got a really weird soundtrack here for this story... Ani Difranco, Avenue Q, Linkin Park, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Digimon... The list goes on. And this is only the third chapter. Yowza.

Not much else to say about this except that the action is starting up soon, these are mostly fillers and setting up the scene, really. The good stuff comes when... well... You'll see.

Enjoy!

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_**Bounce**_

_Summary: Part of being a teenager is having to put up with the masks that people wear, but no one was prepared for the mask one student wore. And even more so for the real person underneath. Roommates, parties, sports rivalries and term papers._

_Disclaimer: Beyblade and all associated characters and themes are copyright to Aoki Takao. Riley Kurosawa (formerly known as Riley Taylor) and this story are copyright to me._

_**

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3. Move-in Chaos**_

It is a well known phenomenon that moving into a dorm hall, especially for the first time, is a complete disaster. Parents, brothers, sisters, boyfriends and girlfriends all help the unfortunate student move all of their belongings from the car – which more often than not takes more than one trip from home and back – to the small room they will be inhabiting for nine or ten months. In the humidity of late August, tensions were running high and younger siblings especially were sent back to the car to keep watch and make sure nothing was stolen. Not that anyone could even think of stealing with all the chaos going on, but the irritation of little feet amidst everything else was too much for most people.

This probably explained the small circles of younger children ranging from ages eight to twelve around the cars introducing themselves and comparing to see who had the better gameboy or the most games. The arguments seemed silly, and the feeling of superiority because they had siblings going to _this_ college was exuded from every one of them.

The true policy of no child left behind.

Rei Kon battled with several heavy boxes on the staircase leading up to his room on the third floor of George Hall. His mother had not been able to make it due to a bad case of allergies that made it hard for her to see through the watery eyes, much less navigate the crowded halls of a university's dorms. His father had just gone back down the steps to retrieve the last of the boxes, which meant that Rei could start unpacking.

Mystel Dakarai had already moved everything in but he had waited for Rei to finish before they started figuring out what would go where. They had already had a mutual agreement that stated that the desks would be facing away from one another between the windows, but the rest was up in the air for now. With the time he had, Mystel had pushed the two desks into their position and left the bunk bed where it had been left. It was hard to move now since it was a station for boxes at the moment, anyway.

Although Mystel hadn't appeared to be nervous about meeting Rei's father, he had confessed before the moving day that he was always anxious about that sort of thing. His peers he could handle, parents, he could not.

On more than one occasion, Rei had reminded him it was the girls he had to worry about, but Mystel would just laugh it off.

When Rei finally managed to make it into the room again, Mystel had opened both windows as wide as he could and positioned his fan on one of the desks, turning it on full blast although the effect was lost because he was sitting right in front of it. The image of Mystel, blond hair sticking to his neck and long braid moving gently with the wind, eyes closed and mouth curved into a light smile, reminded Rei of a dog sticking its head out the car window.

"Aren't you supposed to be used to the heat being Egyptian?" Rei teased, pushing Mystel over so that the breeze hit the rest of the room.

"No," Mystel said, settling himself on a computer chair directly in front of the fan instead. "The humidity here is far worse than the hottest day in Cairo."

"Is it really?" Rei's father asked conversationally, earning a laugh from both boys. "Rei, I think I'll be heading back home unless you want help unpacking…"

"No, I think we're good. Thanks, dad." Rei stood and despite the heat, enveloped his father in a hug. "I appreciate it."

"All right, all right, quit it, I'm feeling too old being here anyway," he quipped, ruffling his son's hair. "We're not too far away, so if you ever need anything, just call. You too, Mystel. Feel free to bug Rei if you need anything."

"I'll try to remember that, sir," Mystel replied dutifully.

Rei, a bit embarrassed with his father's uncharacteristic show of affection, pushed him toward the door and rolled his eyes at Mystel, making the blond laugh out loud.

Even as years went on, fathers were still very, very strange creatures indeed.

* * *

Kai Hiwatari dropped the remainder of his belongings into a heap on the floor of his room and watched as his father took a seat on the bed, idly turning the fan so it faced him. Being Kai's fan, he didn't have any qualms about moving it, although there was another in the room that had been on ever since they had arrived.

As Riley had told him, his roommate's things had been shoved to one side. Some things, like a laptop and mini fridge, had been set up, but aside from that, they had been dumped just as unceremoniously as Kai's things had been. There was, however, no sign of said roommate.

"He said he wouldn't be here?" Nicolai asked doubtfully, having expected to meet the boy before he left.

"Said his stuff would be here but he didn't mention actually being here with it," Kai admitted. At least his roommate had had the good sense to open both windows in the room wide and prop his fan on one of the sills, blowing cooler air into the stifling room.

"Well, while we're waiting, need help unpacking or are you planning on doing it all yourself?" Nicolai asked, although he no doubt already knew the answer.

Kai shook his head. "I'll do it."

An awkward silence spread between them and Kai unconsciously shifted his weight onto another foot, beads of sweat slowly trickling down his spine. Nicolai, without anything to do, stood up and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Take care, I'll be at home."

Kai allowed him a slight smile in response. "Thanks." He gripped his father's hand for a moment before letting go and then Nicolai was making his way out the door.

Not even a minute later, Tala Volkov skidded inside, wearing only a pair of khaki shorts but still glistening with sweat. "Bets are on, Blue. Come on!"

"Who's working up first?" Kai pulled his tank top up over his head and dropped it onto the floor, not caring where it landed. Sneakers kicked off and socks abandoned, he followed after his best friend at a lope.

"McGregor, but 'Rique's getting pretty pissed too," Tala reported, voice just carrying over his shoulder as he vaulted over the stair landing and jumped down to the first floor. "We got a crowd," he added in amusement when Kai stopped nearby, silver brow lifted as the entire hall seemed to be listening to the argument between the redhead and blond.

"Who's the RA?" Kai wondered as he saw Enrique flicking off his roommate after a particularly scathing remark.

"Dunno, some foreign dude. Tiny though." Tala frowned, cerulean eyes searching until he found who he was looking for. "Ha! There we go. There at the end of the hall, black hair, wearing a campus shirt."

It only took a moment to see who Tala was talking about and Kai snorted. "This could get ugly."

Tala cast him a look out of the corner of his eye, mouth curved into a slight smile. "Damage control?"

"As always," Kai sighed, although the upturned corner of his mouth betrayed his amusement.

"You said _you_ were bringing the TV!" Enrique yelled.

"I did _not!_ You already had one in your room, so why should I go out and buy one?" Johnny retorted.

"Because you _said_ you would, jackass."

"I'm a _what?_"

"Are you _deaf?_ I said you were a jackass!"

"Listen, you _fag_-"

Kai and Tala exchanged looks and the bluenette tilted his head toward the argument. Tala grinned. "I'm not taking McGregor, he fights dirty."

"Sissy." Kai pushed his way through the crowd and arrived just in time to catch Johnny's fist in his hand. Tala, having the easier job of restraining Enrique (although the blond was livid with being called a fag) watched as Kai forced Johnny's arms behind his back and held them pressed against the redhead's back. Teeth clenched, Kai adjusted his grip on Johnny's arms, made slippery with sweat.

"Glad to see you two have friends that'll knock some sense in you if you need it," a voice grumbled from the crowd. All attention turned to see the RA push through to stand before the combatants and issue a rather frightening glare at them both. "First _hour_ and you two start fighting. Pathetic."

Kai and Tala looked at one another in surprise and Tala bit his lip to keep from laughing. Apparently this RA had more fire than they had thought.

"What?" Johnny demanded, straining against Kai's arms to get to the new person. "I'm not pathetic-"

"Shut your trap, yes you are." The RA shook his head and ignored the fuming Johnny, turning to Enrique, who seemed to have cooled down already. "Why didn't you two talk to Residential Life if you knew you wouldn't get along?"

Their expressions told all.

"Great." The RA threw his arms up in disgust. "I suggest you keep your things in boxes, there's no way in hell I'm dealing with this every single day."

Two hours later found both Kai and Tala back on the second floor, sprawled out on the cool tiles with both fans turned towards them, piles of money between them. Kai neatly stacked the bills he had acquired and flipped through to make sure it was the right amount.

"I still think you cheated," Tala grumbled, glaring at his best friend as he finished tallying the numbers and pocketed the bills that had turned out to be his in the end. His pile was far smaller than Kai's.

Kai rolled his eyes and put the money in his pocket. "Just because I suggested the RA didn't mean I actually thought that was the winning bet."

"You still cheated."

"What are you, two?"

"I'd pummel you right now if it weren't so hot."

Kai ignored him.

"Ugh, I hate boarding on carpet."

Both teens turned their heads to see a young Japanese boy standing in the doorway. Small, lithe frame swathed in baggy khaki shorts and a gray tank top, feet bare, black sweat bands on each wrist, he didn't look any older than sixteen, tops. Without a word to the two boys already in the room, he kicked his skateboard to the opposite side of the room and whisked off his black beanie, revealing a mass of silver hair tipped black and ears with more piercings than could be counted, only now a tangle of cuffs, chains, and studs. Amethyst eyes framed with long, dark lashes finally turned to look at the bluenette and redhead on the floor, a light brow arching. "What?"

"You're Kurosawa."

Riley Kurosawa turned his full attention to Kai and tilted his head, smirking. "Told ya you'd know me when you saw me."

"I thought you said he was Japanese," Tala said to Kai, although he was looking at Riley.

"I'm one of those rare breeds that can speak English rather fluently. I still fuck up sometimes though," he admitted. "So. Who're you?"

"Tala Volkov, I'm on the other side." Tala jerked his thumb in the vague direction of his room and then settled back to lean back on his hands.

"Constant visitors. Good to know." Despite his words, Riley didn't seem to be too bothered by this. He maneuvered between the two larger boys and opened the door to the mini fridge. "What I wouldn't give for a good bottle of the bubbly," he muttered, grabbing three cokes instead. Keeping one in the crook of his arm, he tossed one first to his roommate and then to the redheaded guest. "So you know the blond and redhead on the first floor?"

"McGregor and Rodriguez?" Tala asked before taking a long drink from the can.

Riley shrugged. "Sure."

"What about them?" Kai leaned against the bottom bunk and looked at his roommate as he settled on the floor nearby, back to the fans.

"There must have been a fight 'cause the redhead had a bloody nose and looked pissed enough to kill."

Kai choked on his drink and Tala nearly dropped his. "Well damn."

* * *

Before people ask me tons of questions... Residential Life is the place you go when you have problems with where you live. Roommates, broken windows, that sort of thing. Before school, if you think you won't get along with your roommate, they're the ones you call. After school's started you talk to the RA first. Yes, the RA on the first floor of George Hall (Kai lives on the second floor) is Ozuma. I decided to make him older. Yes, Tala, Kai, Johnny, and Enrique live in the same hall, which has three floors. George Hall itself is shaped like a U, one RA per side. Kai and Riley live on the left side of the U, and Tala and Mystel are on the right, so they have to go through the middle to get to the others' rooms.

The phrase of "bottle of the bubbly" came from the movie _Batman Returns_ 'cause I thought it was just so funny hearing the Penguin saying that... Other people have probably said it but I never really had it stick until then, so there you go.

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